A mob of some 250 anarchists rioted Friday night outside the Caesarea home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an event they called “The Resistance to the Dictatorship.”
The anarchists, who came equipped with Israeli flags, loudspeakers, megaphones, and other noisemakers, disturbed the Sabbath peace of the rest of the neighborhood as they were located at a short distance from the Netanyahu home, near the main street of the seaside town, in front of a public garden.
The anarchists turned to violence when police attempted to disperse the demonstration, which had not been coordinated with law enforcement, according to Israel’s Channel N12 News.
Four rioters were arrested by police, including Moshe Redman, a leader of the high-tech protests and one of the organizers of Friday night’s demonstration.
More anarchists arrived in Caesarea and later hundreds showed up at the Hadera police station where the detainees were taken, following appeals for support that were posted on social media by the anarchists, according to The Jerusalem Post. Fourteen demonstrators were arrested outside the police station after they blocked the station gate.
According to a report by Walla! News outlet, one protester ended up with a bloody nose when noise amplification equipment landed on his face while police were trying to shut it down. Anarchists claimed police broke the rioter’s nose.
An estimated one thousand anarchists returned to the prime minister’s home on Saturday, blocking traffic on the main road and waving signs that read, “We are all Gidi” – a reference to one of the rioters who was arrested the previous night.
On Saturday night, following the conclusion of the Sabbath, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir issued a statement supporting the police and encouraging the prosecutor’s office to use the full extent of the law against the “thugs who attack cops.”
Ben Gvir added that those who attack police should be treated with zero tolerance: “Our job is to protect the police and democracy.”
As usual, the weekly anarchist event was held Saturday night on Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv.
